Lipid membrane uptake of carboneous nanoparticles from combustion sources

ANYL 340

Angela Violi, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering, The University of Michigan, 2150 G.G. Brown, 2350 Hayward Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2125
The process of combustion is the dominant pathway through which mankind continuously injects particulate matter into the atmosphere at the present time. These combustion generated particles are present not only in a very large amount, but are produced, at the smallest scale, in the form of clusters with nanometric dimensions.The goal of this work is to explore the interactions of carbon based nanoparticles with biomolecular structures representative of those at the cellular scale (lipid bilayer). The permeability and associated influence of carboneous nanoparticle impurities within a dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine/cholesterol (4:1) membrane was explored by classical Molecular Dynamics simulations. The structural and dynamical behavior of the affected membrane was monitored via lateral mean squared displacement and potential of mean force calculations. While it was determined that the nanoparticles, composed solely of hydrocarbons, were more lipophylic than an equivalent particle funcionalized with hydroxyl groups, water molecules were observed by differential density distribution plots to accompany the insertion of both types into the bilayer.